Hollywood heartthrob ben Affleck waves to the crowd as he is welcomed by the thousands that showed up along N. Washington Ave for a campaign rally Friday afternoon.
Byline: edwad pikulski
Date created: 07/31/2004

KERRY VISIT STRICKEN ILL
A young woman is carried away from heat exhaustion by a Scranton Police officer and an unidentified man on Friday before John Kerry's speech at Courthouse Square.
Byline: BUTCH COMEGYS
Date created: 07/31/2004

Over the past two centuries, Northeast Pennsylvania has played host to seemingly hundreds of US Presidents and candidates hoping to earn the job.

The region played a small but memorable role in history just 10 years ago when John Kerry, hoping for a shot at the White House, chose Scranton as his first stop after accepting the Democratic presidential nomination in Boston. Then-U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, who almost assuredly played a not-so-small role in enticing Mr. Kerry here, said in an interview leading up to the appearance that he couldn’t recall a presidential nominee ever making NEPA his first stop after nomination. The same article, which ran July 27, 2004, also cited a Democratic campaign official who said Mr. Kerry was visiting Scranton partly because it’s a highly Democratic area in a swing state.

Scranton important

Mr. Kerry’s visit, his first on a 21-state, coast-to-coast bus tour, included a healthy dose of celebrity. In addition to Mr. Kerry and his running mate, John Edwards, then-Gov. Ed Rendell and Bob Casey, the stop featured megawatt movie star Ben Affleck.

The visit was Mr. Affleck’s second to Scranton, although his first was not so well publicized. In the 1992 movie “School Ties,” he played opposite Brendan Fraser, whose character was from Scranton. After his appearance for Mr. Kerry’s rally, Mr. Affleck noted that he and Mr. Fraser had visited Scranton briefly for “background,” according to a July 31, 2004 article.

The Kerry rally was held July 30, 2004, at Scranton’s Courthouse Square. From the beginning, it was plagued with problems. Folks who wanted to attend signed up in advance for tickets, which were handed out in a color system — red, yellow, blue and white — that led to confusion and frustration.

Those with red tickets, reserved for elected officials and other VIPs, had little trouble getting into the rally. But everyone else encountered long and disorganized lines, made all the more frustrating because only three metal detectors were operational. Several people waiting to get in reported seeing others shoving their ways into lines. A spokeswoman for the Kerry-Edwards campaign admitted they had distributed more tickets than there were seats, expecting no-shows and likely adding to the frustration.

Then there was the heat. Temperatures soared to 84 degrees that afternoon, with humidity at 63 percent. By the time the rally began around 3:40 p.m.— about two hours late — dozens suffering from heat-related problems had been treated. County officials said about 36 people total had been treated by ambulance crews; then-City Safety Director Ray Hayes said the final count was likely more than that. Then-Scranton Fire Chief Tom Davis said people were collapsing every five minutes. He called in the fire department’s rescue truck to help 20 ambulances at the courthouse.

PA comes through

In fact, Mr. Kerry’s daughter, Vanessa, rushed to help a man who had collapsed in the crowd, according to a July 31, 2004 article. She jumped down from the stage and helped move the unnamed man to a nearby bench, waiting with him until help arrived.

“It was absolute instinct,” she told reporters later. “When someone goes down you just react.”

The speeches themselves went somewhat better. Mr. Kerry told the crowd of about 17,000 that he planned to eliminate tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and promised to be a champion for the middle class.
When the election finally rolled around, Pennsylvania did not let Mr. Kerry and Mr. Edwards down. The pair won the state’s 21 electoral votes. Of course, we all know it was not enough to get the Democrats into the White House.

We welcome user discussion on our site, under the following guidelines:

To comment you must first create a profile and sign-in with a verified DISQUS account or social network ID. Sign up here.

Comments in violation of the rules will be denied, and repeat violators will be banned. Please help police the community by flagging offensive comments for our moderators to review. By posting a comment, you agree to our full terms and conditions. Click here to read terms and conditions.

Think you have the cutest pet in NEPA? Share a photo of your furry companion and you could win prizes from our sponsors! Deadline to submit an entry is March 19, and voting will take place from March 20-March 31.